|
About Jesus Steve Sweetman 16
– Diabolos On The Prowl "Be
self controlled and alert.
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking
for someone to devour". (1Peter 5:9) The
Greek word "diabolos" is translated into English as
"devil" in this verse.
"Diabolos" is comprised of; "dia" meaning
"over, across, or through", and, "bolos" meaning
"one who throws".
"Diabolos" portrays the devil as one who throws things
across our path.
The
devil is pitching all sorts of things our way these days to distract us
from our task at hand.
He doesn't need a relief pitcher to take his place in the 8th
inning of this age.
He's got enough pitches left in him to keep him going to the
bitter end.
His plan for the 9th inning is not only to strike us
out but to get as many Christians as possible to defect to his dugout. Maybe
that's what the apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote about a
"falling away" prior to the return of Jesus. (2 Thessalonians
2:3)
As
our culture becomes more anti-Christ than it presently is, satanic
forces are warming up in the bullpen.
We can expect anything and everything to be thrown at us, and
unlike baseball, what is thrown comes from all directions and from
multiple sources.
Demons are positioned at every conceivable spot on the field, and
just to let you know, they have a very narrow strike zone.
They're aiming right at our heads.
That's why Peter tells us to be alert and self controlled.
Our heads need to be both Holy Spirit led and Biblically sound as
we approach the 9th inning of this age. The
prerequisite to being alert is to have sufficient Biblical knowledge
which will enable us to interpret and understand the significance of
what's being thrown our way.
This takes some serious Holy Spirit inspired Biblical education
on our part.
The
devil may be out to get us but that doesn't mean we need to fear him.
Jesus tells us to fear no one but God who is able to destroy both
body and soul in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
As a matter of fact, the satanically inspired anti-Christ can't
rise to power without God's permission.
Only when one of the four living creatures tells him to
"come", is he permitted to appear on the world scene.
(Revelation 6:1) As
the 9th inning of this age approaches, be alert to satanic
fastballs thrown our way, but don't be disheartened.
It may not look like it now, but as the old saying goes,
"we've got the game in the bag". The
bottom of the 9th belongs to Jesus.
The earth will shake as He comes out of His dug out and goes nose
to nose with the devil.
The satanic forces will disintegrate in defeat.
Loud shouts of ecstatic joy will be heard in the heavenly stands
shouting, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our
Lord and of His Christ". (Revelation 11:15) 17
– Coming
Abuse "They
think it strange that you don't plunge with them into the same flood of
dissipation, and they will heap abuse on you". (1 Peter 4:4)
Peter wasn't telling his readers something they didn't already
know. Along with being seen
as strange, abuse was heaped on them from the anti-Christ culture in
which they lived. The
word "dissipation" means excessive, and in context, the
excessiveness is an addiction to immorality and idolatry.
The word "plunge" is descriptive of how eager an
anti-Christ culture is to dive into their excessiveness. As
in Peter's day, our western world is diving whole heartedly into a
cesspool of immorality and idolatry, and they not only think we're
strange for not taking the plunge with them, but they're beginning to
heap abuse on us as well. One
example of this is our refusal to plunge into pride.
Pride parades have evolved from a simple march for equality to an
erotic public celebration of all things sexual.
No longer are we just seen as strange for not taking the plunge
into pride, but as my email account proves, we're being verbally abused.
Proverbs 16:18 is ironic when thinking of these things.
It says; "pride goes before destruction". It
makes one wonder if this proverb means more than what we've always
thought.
It's important to know that our conflict isn't with our human opponents but with demons. (Ephesians 6:10-19) With this understanding, we demonstrate Biblical love to our abusers without compromising the truth of Scripture. In the midst of it all we stand firm in our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
|